Babies Online - The Blog

Twins Separated At Birth Sue For Millions

When my son was born, I was so scared he’d be swapped for another baby, or stolen from the hospital, I insisted my husband stuck by his side at all times when the nurses took him to the nursery to wash him and weigh him and do the heel prick and all that stuff they do to newborns.

I even tried to get up with the epidural still stuck in my back (bad idea) to go with them, but sanity did prevail and my husband went with him. And yes he did come back, and we took the correct baby, the one I gave birth to, home.

It’s incredibly unlikely either will happen in the hospital, but it does happen. And to the most unlikely babies. You wouldn’t have though twins could be mixed up – even less so, one twin swapped from identical twins?

In this incredible case, 35 years ago, in a hospital in Las Palmas, Spain, a nurse took one baby from of a set of identical baby girl twins, and somehow replaced that baby with another baby girl. The twin’s mother took the twins home, and the other mother took her daughter home.

In 2001, one of the identical twins was working in a clothes store. While she was away from the store, her identical twin sister happened to walk in. The clerk in the store couldn’t understand why this identical-looking woman didn’t recognize her. And when the woman came by the store again, the clerk arranged for them both to meet.

After DNA testing proved they were identical, the twins, and the third woman in the mix-up, are all suing the government of Las Palmas for $4.7 million in damages.

Do you think they should sue? Is it the city’s fault? Do they deserve that amount of compensation?

Test

Posted by brit on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Multiple Births, News, Twins.
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